C/1917 F1 (Mellish) Explained

C/1917 F1 (Mellish)
Discovery Ref:[1]
Discoverer:John Edward Mellish
Discovery Date:19 March 1917
Designations:1917a, 1917I
Orbit Ref:[2]
Epoch:1917-Mar-31.0
Observation Arc:38 days
Aphelion:54.61 AU
Perihelion:0.190 AU
Semimajor:27.40 AU
Eccentricity:0.9931
Period:143 years
Inclination:32.69°
Asc Node:88.67°
Arg Peri:121.31°
Earth Moid:0.062 AU
Jupiter Moid:1.53 AU
M1:11
Last P:11 April 1917
Next P:~2060

C/1917 F1 (Mellish), also known as Comet 1917Ι and 1917a, is a Halley-type comet discovered by John E. Mellish on 19 March 1917. The comet has an orbital period of 143 years and last passed perihelion on 11 April 1917. It is the parent body of the December Monocerotids and has also been suggested to be the parent body of daytime kappa Leonids,[3] April ρ-Cygnids, November Orionids, and Canis-Minorids meteor showers.[4] [5]

The comet upon discovery was in the constellation of Aries and it was located low in the sky and was very condensed. On 23 March a short tail was reported.[1] After perihelion, on 11 April, the comet nucleus was reported to be very bright on 14 April, with a report mentioning it was brighter than Venus,[6] while it developed a tail that measured 10 degrees in length. The comet faded quickly and by the end of April it was of 5th magnitude and the comet's tail was three degrees long.[7]

The comet has an orbital period of about 145 years, and thus fits the definition of Halley type comets, which have an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. Its orbital period is similar to comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent body of the Perseids. The comet has a relatively small perihelion distance, about 0.19abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit.[8] The minimum orbit intersection distance with Earth is 0.06abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit while the same distance from Venus is 0.0084abbr=unitNaNabbr=unit, and could create a meteor shower in Venus.[9]

In 1979, Ichiro Hasegawa tentatively identified a comet observed in December 193 CE as a previous apparition of C/1917 F1 (Mellish).[10]

Notes and References

  1. New Comet a 1917 (Mellish) . Popular Astronomy . 1 January 1917 . 25 . 264–265 . 0197-7482.
  2. Web site: Small-Body Database Lookup: C/1917 F1 (Mellish) . ssd.jpl.nasa.gov.
  3. Web site: 00212 KLE Daytime kappa Leonids . www.ta3.sk . IAU . 13 May 2023.
  4. Neslušan . L. . Hajduková . M. . The meteor-shower complex of comet C/1917 F1 (Mellish) . Astronomy & Astrophysics . June 2014 . 566 . A33 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201423382. free . 2014A&A...566A..33N .
  5. Vereš . P. . Kornoš . L. . Tóth . J. . Meteor showers of comet C/1917 F1 Mellish . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 21 March 2011 . 412 . 1 . 511–521 . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17923.x. free . 1010.5733 . 2011MNRAS.412..511V .
  6. Baldwin . J. M. . Observations de la comète 1917 a Meìlish . Journal des Observateurs . 1 January 1918 . 2 . 37 . 1918JO......2...37B . 0368-3389.
  7. Wood . H. E. . Orbit of Mellish's Comet . The Observatory . 1 July 1917 . 40 . 273–274 . 1917Obs....40..273W . 0029-7704.
  8. Neslušan . L. . Vaubaillon . J. . Hajduková . M. . A study to improve the past orbit of comet C/1917 F1 (Mellish) on the basis of its observed meteor showers . Astronomy & Astrophysics . May 2016 . 589 . A100 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201527526. free . 2016A&A...589A.100N .
  9. Christou . A. A. . Annual meteor showers at Venus and Mars: lessons from the Earth . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . March 2010 . 402 . 4 . 2759–2770 . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.16097.x. free . 2010MNRAS.402.2759C .
  10. Hasegawa . I. . Orbits of Ancient and Medieval Comets . Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan . 1 January 1979 . 31 . 257–270 . 1979PASJ...31..257H . 0004-6264.